Weeping Sparrows
by Sakura4eva
Summary: She never could just throw something away. Instead, she buried them, hoping, begging, praying, that they would never return again. KureUo one shot. Angsty. Rated T for mild swearing.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fruits Basket - Natsuki Takaya does.

Summary: She never could just throw something away. Instead, she buried them, hoping, begging, praying, that they would never return again. KureUo one shot. Angsty. Rated T for mild swearing.

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**Weeping Sparrows**

"How about you clean it up, Uotani?" A brown haired girl in an apron asked the crouching female beside her.

"Wha-? Ayase! I don't want to-"

"Thanks so much!" Ayase exclaimed, ignoring the blonde's protests as she darted back into the store to continue cleaning up there. Whether it was to escape the pouring rain, Uotani's annoyance, cleaning up out there (the most likely), or even all three; who knew.

The bird lay there, and try as she might, Arisa Uotani could not make herself just sweep it's lifeless body into the trash.

_'I'll bury it.'_

With this sudden urge in mind, she stood up, swept it carefully into a plastic bag - mindful that she didn't touch it with her bare hands - and announced that she was heading out for a lunch break.

She ran down the sidewalk, ignoring her boss' comments that it wasn't any where near lunch ("If anything, it's near dinner!").

After a few minutes of jogging, she slowed down to a complete halt with one thought in mind; _where_?

_'Damn it! I should have thought of this first! Why the hell am I burying this thing any ways?! But I can't just drop it now...'_ She paused. _'I guess the gardens are off limits to dig in, huh? The cemetery is a definite no - who wants to dig around there, with out knowing how close to other bodies you might be?'_ Arisa sighed. "Park it is. Not like many will be there at a day like today..." she muttered, already walking towards her destination as she spared a quick glance up to the dark sky, then to her appearance as she passed by the window of a shop.

Her drenched hair had fallen out of it's bindings sometime during her run, with it now sticking to random parts of her flushed face and her white apron was completely soaked through, showing her dark uniform underneath. Arisa didn't really care about any of this, though, and she turned her face away from the windows and back in front of herself as she made her way through the surprisingly dense crowd.

_'You would have thought that they would've headed indoors, but no...'_

She sighed again, this time out of relief - she had finally made it out of the crowd, and to the entrance of the park. Just like she had predicted; there were very few people in there, and those that were around, were just leaving, huddled under big umbrellas.

Arisa rolled her eyes in annoyance as she passed a particularly closely huddled couple. A year ago, it would have been disgust in her features, but ever since she had met Kureno, it was more of a longing, disguised by anger or frustration.

_'Kureno..._' Oh, how she longed to see that man. Why had he just disappeared? Was there some sort of problem? Could it be that he didn't feel the same way, and that he was just playing with her? That hurt her more than she liked, so she shook her, continuing her walk that she hadn't even noticed had paused during her thinking.

No, he wasn't like that. Arisa was sure that there was some sort of problem, and that possibly hurt her even more. _'I wish he could just tell me. Sneak if he has to.'_ She grumbled in annoyance, but stopped in her walking. _'Finally! I can get rid of this_ _bird.' _Arisa glared at the bird as if it had taken Kureno away from her.

"Oh well. Let's just get this over with." She muttered to herself as she placed the bag containing the winged creature down, then looked around. "Damn it!" Arisa cursed, stomping angrily with one foot. "I can't believe I didn't think of this... How else did I expect to dig?"

Yep, she didn't have anything to dig with. _'Well, hands are better than nothing, I guess... And it's not like I can get much dirtier.'_ She groaned inwardly, but nevertheless, got down on her hands and knees and started to dig. The ground was a soft soil, so for once that day, she was thankful for the rain.

Finally, after a couple tiring minutes of making room deep in the dirt, she used a couple leaves to take the bird out of the bag and place it gently in the ground.

She was just about to stand up - relieved that her self proclaimed 'duty' was complete, when she had this horrible, sad, sinking feeling. And she cried. Arisa Uotani _never _cried. "Wh-what the hell...?" But she just kept crying. "I've s-seriously gone completely wh-whack!" Arisa muttered to herself, trying to convince herself that she was most certainly _not_ crying, and even if she was, it was not crying over a freaking _bird_!

But there she was, sobbing, with the little sparrow (or whatever the heck it was!) lying innocently and unmovingly in the hole, still uncovered.

_'Kureno...!'_ She had this intense feeling that something was wrong with him. She had no idea what, but that feeling of dread was there; looming around her like a dark storm cloud.

"Wh-whatever! I better just get this done..." she mumbled, already grabbing the clumps of dirt that she had previously dug up, to pack them down over the little body. As she did so, she kept having this feeling that something was wrong, but ignored it. After patting down the last handful of soil, Arisa stood up, and briskly walked down the road, head high, but spirits low and sagging.

By the time she got back to the store, the rain had ceased and it was time to close the store.

**The Next Day**

Again, Arisa Uotani found herself back at that same convenience store that she had, not only met Kureno, but now was the same store she had found the dead bird outside the entrance. Her mood had not risen even a little bit, but Tohru was with her to keep her company, so she had to at least act cheerful. Of course, her recent luck would not allow that...

"Uo-chan..." Tohru started, obviously unsure of herself. "I have to tell you something."

"Hmm? What is it, Tohru?" Arisa asked, glancing over at her friend from behind the counter.

"Well... You know Kureno?"

Arisa jumped slightly, but gave Tohru a 'duh' look. "What 'bout him?"

"..." The brunette shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously. "I just thought that ... you should know." She started. "Kureno... He's dead..."

Arisa's face went blank, and immediately she dropped to her knees. But she didn't register any of it. Not Tohru hopping around at the other side of the counter, calling out her name. Not her boss, scolding her for lazing about (obviously not noticing the situation). Not even the tears that had started to softly free fall from her eyes. "... Oh." She then tilted her face up to her friend. "Tohru...? Was he a bird?"

Tohru looked at Arisa strangely, but the blonde noticed her friend's sudden tenseness.

"That's what I thought. I buried him..."

And with that, she broke down crying, with a silent oath to herself to just stick with Tohru and Saki, never to meddle with another man again.

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**AN: Yeah... I read the 20th book a week or so ago, and it just sunk in now that KureUo might never happen. Well, I freaked out at that, and speed-typed this up. Of course, I now have carpel tunnel (or however the heck you spell that stupid thing) in my right wrist, so don't expect anything to happen quickly for a bit. Not like it ever has, but whatever... Lol Anyways, hope you liked this one shot in all of it's angsty-ness. :') Review if you like!**

**Dedication: **To all those that hope / wish that was just a random bird, and not Kureno.** I do, too, but I think that's not the case... T.T I really need the 21st book! DX**

_**- Cady **_**:D**


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